The BJP’s Bengal victory exposes the erosion of Indian democracy

Recent state elections in India have produced one of the most consequential political verdicts in the country’s contemporary history, especially in West Bengal (WB), a border state of more than 100 million people that has long resisted the advance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). For the first time in history, the BJP has captured power in Bengal, winning 207 of the 293 seats declared so far and reducing the TMC to 80. One seat is due for repolling. The scale of the BJP’s victory has transformed India’s political map. But the verdict has also triggered profound questions over the integrity of the electoral process itself. The election took place after an extraordinarily sweeping and deeply controversial “Special Intensive Revision” (SIR) of electoral rolls conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI), ostensibly to remove duplicate, deceased or “ineligible” voters. Across West Bengal, more than nine million names — nearly 12 percent of the electorate — were initially flagged, removed or subjected to scrutiny during the exercise. The exercise disproportionately targeted Muslims, migrant workers and poorer voters in districts where the BJP has historically struggled electorally. In many constituencies won by the BJP, the number of deleted or disputed voters exceeded the margin of victory. The implications are grave. India may have crossed from electoral distortion into mass disenfranchisement. Bengal is not merely another Indian state. …